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Horse Brain,
Human Brain
The Neuroscience of Horsemanship
Janet L. Jones, Ph.D.
First published in 2020 by
Trafalgar Square Books
North Pomfret, Vermont 05053
Copyright © 2020 Janet Jones
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, by any means, without written permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer quoting brief excerpts for a review in a magazine, newspaper, or website.
Parts of this book have been previously published in some form in EQUUS magazine.
Disclaimer of Liability
The author and publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in this book. While the book is as accurate as the author can make it, there may be errors, omissions, and inaccuracies.
Trafalgar Square Books encourages the use of approved safety helmets in all equestrian sports and activities.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Jones, Janet L. (Neuroscientist), author.
Title: Horse brain, human brain : the neuroscience of horsemanship / Janet L. Jones.
Description: North Pomfret, Vermont : Trafalgar Square Books, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “Horsemanship of every kind depends on mutual interaction between equine and human brains. When we understand the function of both, we can learn to communicate with horses on their terms instead of ours. And, by meeting horses halfway, we not only save valuable training time and improve performance, we achieve other goals, too. We develop much deeper bonds with our horses; we handle them with insight and kindness instead of force or command; we comprehend their misbehavior in ways that allow solutions; and we reduce the human mistakes we often make while working with them. In this illuminating book, brain scientist and horsewoman Janet Jones describes human and equine brains working together. Using plain language, she explores the differences and similarities between equine and human ways of negotiating the world. Mental abilities-like seeing, learning, fearing, trusting, and focusing-are discussed from both human and horse perspectives. Throughout, true stories of horses and handlers attempting to understand each other-sometimes successfully, sometimes not-help to illustrate the principles”-- Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020000724 (print) | LCCN 2020000725 (ebook) | ISBN 9781570769481 (paperback) | ISBN 9781646010271 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Horses--Training. | Horses--Physiology. | Human-animal communication. | Horsemanship--Physiological aspects. | Neurosciences.
Classification: LCC SF287 .J63 2020 (print) | LCC SF287 (ebook) | DDC 636.1/0835--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020000724
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020000725
Illustrations by Susan Harris and Jean Abernethy
Book design by Tim Holtz
Cover design by RM Didier
Index by Andrea Jones (JonesLiteraryServices.com)
Typefaces: Berkeley Oldstyle, Perpetua, Avenir
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Dedicated to my father
Gerry Jones
who surrounded me from birth with an exceptional variety of
books, brains, and horses
The Brain—is wider than the Sky—
For—put them side by side—
The one the other will contain
With ease—and You—beside—
The Brain is deeper than the sea—
For—hold them—Blue to Blue—
The one the other will absorb—
As Sponges—Buckets—do—
The Brain is just the weight of God—
For—Heft them—Pound for Pound—
And they will differ—if they do—
As Syllable from Sound—
Emily Dickinson, c. 1862
Part One
Animals in a Human World
Chapter One
The Horse-and-Human Team
“Here. I don’t even wanna hold ‘er. Don’t wanna see ‘er! Nutcase still won’t get in the trailer. Jus’ set her out by the road with a sign ‘round ‘er neck: ‘Free flippin’ horse.’” My red-faced friend stomped off, leaving me on the dumb end of a sweaty sorrel’s lead rope. Apparently, their teamwork over the past several hours had not gone well.
Horses and people have been working together, or trying to, for at least 5500 years. Evidence comes from Kazakhstan, where Stone Age tools show that horses were milked for human food and bridled for riding or driving. Since then, we’ve joined these creatures of power and beauty on all sorts of tasks: military, agricultural, transportation, law enforcement, therapy, performance sports, ranch work, companionship, exercise, and recreation. Horses have played starring roles in almost every aspect of human life.
Today, horses are an estimated 60 million strong worldwide. The American Horse Council Foundation reports that our four-legged friends pack a financial punch of $122 billion a year and create almost 2 million full–time jobs in the United States alone. About 27 million Americans ride. That’s a lot of cross-species pairs trying to work with each other.
Horse Brain, Human Brain explains and applies principles of brain function that improve horsemanship across the entire spectrum of horse-and-human teams. And what a spectrum it is! Disciplines include driving, jumping, reining, vaulting, foxhunting, cutting, rodeo, barrels, endurance, racing, pulling, ranch work, dressage, roping, trail, and much more—the equine family is über-versatile. We cubbyhole types of riding: Western, English, dressage, Australian, hunt seat, jumping seat, saddle seat, jockey seat, bad seat, and so on. Okay, I’m kind of kidding with that last one, but not much!
Worldwide, at least 4,150 different breeds of horses exist today. Many of them are specialized for their disciplines. For example, we’d be surprised to see a Clydesdale in a saddle-seat equitation class or a Selle Français roping. Equus caballus is a species
